Enzo was sitting in a corner booth, staring intently at a map he had spread in front of him, when he spotted a very familiar looking blonde walk in and take a seat by the window. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously knowing it couldn't very well be a co-incidence that they were both in this rundown, dusty, forsaken town in the outskirts of Virginia and not to mention the same diner. He walked over to her booth and slid in opposite her.
"That's a nice disguise," he commented, looking over at her large black sunglasses and the multiple scarves swathed around her head.
She frowned prettily and started taking off the ludicrous embellishments.
"Enzo. What a fun surprise to run into you here!" she faked perkily, internally scolding herself for getting caught. And she had been doing so well.
"No, but kudos to you. You actually managed to trail him this far. I am impressed. I only wish to know, why? I didn't get the idea you cared for Damon all that much."
Caroline sighed and dropped the act.
"Look, I know Damon and I haven't been on the best terms recently or well, ever, but Elena is my best friend and she clearly cares for him, or used to, anyway, and it's insane because a week ago she claimed to be in love with him and now all of a sudden she is over him and apparently back in love with Stefan, who also happens to be my best friend, and I can't watch him get hurt and as much I wish it were true that Elena has actually moved on from Damon, it's super weird that she isn't even worried that he is just up and missing and that's so not Elena and I am worried she might have hit her head and so I just need to get Damon back so they can sort out their feelings and resolve that stupid triangle once and for all."
She stopped to take a breath and a sip of her coffee.
Enzo stared at her in shock his mouth hanging open before chuckling slightly. Of course, he should have guessed the little blonde tornado wouldn't just sit back and not try to fix a situation gone wrong.
"Has anyone ever told you that you need to learn to mind your own business?" he asked, teasingly.
"I am just looking out for my friends."
"As am I. And since my friend is the one who is actually missing, I think you should let me handle this."
"Yes, because you have been such a good influence on him," she said sarcastically and rolled her eyes at him. "Okay, so how about this? We team up and find him. Then you hand me over the reins and once we go back and the whole thing with Elena is sorted out and if he stills wishes to remain your friend, you can take over. Sounds good, yeah? So I saw you looking at a map earlier and-"
"Hold up!" he said, raising a hand. She may be cute and he did weirdly enjoy talking to her (though that was mostly just a one-way conversation since he could barely get a word in), but he was still uncertain about her real intentions.
"What's in it for me? I couldn't care less about Damon's relationship with your friend."
"Irrespective of our end goals, we both want to find Damon. Our resources pooled together could help us reach that goal faster. Besides, do you really wanna turn down my help? I suppose you have been around enough to know that I excel at everything I set my mind on," she said, her chin up and a hint of smile playing on her face.
"You do raise some good points," he said, smiling back at her. He was sure he could do just fine without her but her skills could always come of help and her company would certainly not be disliked. "So tell me, how did you manage to track him till here? If we are doing this together, full disclosure is required. I need to know I can trust you."
"Well," she said sheepishly, "I kind of maybe could have followedyou a little."
"Sorry, I don't think I caught that right," he said, suddenly less pleased with this arrangement.
"Ugh, don't make me say it again!" she said, crossing her hands across her chest and leaning back.
"You have been following me this whole time? That was your plan? Follow me all the way till I found him?"
She nodded.
"And what would you have done then? Did you think I would just hand him over to you? Or were you going to fight me over him?" he asked, looking at her incredulously.
"Why are you giving me that look? I could totally have beat you!"
Enzo shook his head at that and grinned at her. She was a brave one. Foolish but brave. He leaned forward and placed his elbow on the table extending his arm towards her.
"Good old-fashioned duel to settle my doubt then?"
Caroline glared at him. She wasn't stupid enough to think she could arm wrestle him to a defeat but she still took his hand and cleared her throat.
"Okay but let's make it more interesting. If I win, you give me that map with all your little crosses and circles and secret notes on it and I go on my way and if you win, I'll leave you alone and stay out of your path from here on."
"Slight change, if you win you can accompany me but the map stays with me."
She nodded her assent and he pushed his hand slightly. This was a ridiculously easy win, which is why it sucked that he would have to lose.
Caroline followed him out of the diner and to the dingy back alley where he had parked a car.
"I know you let me win," she said, leaning against a rusty window.
"I was hoping it wasn't that obvious," he said, turning around and looking at her.
"Why'd you do it?"
"Like you said, our pooled resources would help us find him faster," he said, walking closer to where she stood.
"Was that the only reason?" she asked, wishing her voice sounded less breathless.
"No." He filled the gap completely and stood in front of her.
"I thought so," she whispered, and stood on her toes, pressing her lips to his.
He deepened the kiss and before he could place his hand across her waist, she caught hold of it and had it handcuffed to the window.
"Sorry about that," she said, avoiding his eyes guiltily and flashing backwards. She clutched the map to her chest as she raced to her car. Pickpocketing and deceit aside, what really weighed on her mind was that back there she was actually tempted to drop the plan. She looked at her reflection in the rear-view mirror and sighed before driving off. Caroline Forbes did not ditch her carefully made plans for a cute guy, she sternly told herself. Though lately, plans only seemed to exist to hinder her from what she truly wanted.
